The Calendar - Lectures, Readings, and Forums

This Week's Events

Lectures, Readings, and Forums
Ann Arbor is an educated and educational community, providing an ample selection of brown bag lectures, seminars, and other colloquia. The Calendar covers events from authors on book signing tours to politicians on the stump.

Highlights this week:

"Radio Free Bacon": Zingerman's Roadhouse.

Richard Tillinghast: Shaman Drum Bookshop.

Mike Farrell: Barnes & Noble.

Tuesday
May, 2008

7-8:30 p.m.
"Healing Health Care in Michigan:Working Toward a Health System That Works": Ann Arbor District Library. Panel discussion with U-M School of Public Health health management and policy professor Richard Lichtenstein, Packard Community Clinic executive director Kim Kratz, Washtenaw Health Plan executive director Ellen Rabinowitz, and Washtenaw Health Plan children's health insurance advocate Kelly Stupple. AADL multipurpose room (lower level), 343 S. Fifth Ave. at William. Free. 327-4560.

7 p.m.
Richard Tillinghast: Shaman Drum Bookshop. A U-M English professor emeritus who now lives in rural Ireland, this award-winning poet known for his distinctively musical free-verse poems reads from The New Life, his new collection of poems about romantic love, the deaths of old friends, the ironies of history, and the losses and epiphanies of a life of exploration and discovery. "There's no going back to innocence for sullied creatures like ourselves, but achingly captured in these poems is that perdurable wish. And in freshwater lines of poetry - the purest, most limpid he has ever written - Richard Tillinghast finds something 'the polluted tides of history' have not yet overwhelmed," says poet and U-M English professor Linda Gregerson. Signing. Shaman Drum, 315 S. State. Free. 662-7407.

Wednesday
May, 2008

10:30 a.m.
"Breakfast and Kabbalah":: Chabad House. All invited to join a chat over breakfast with Chabad House rabbi Aharon Goldstein about kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. Chabad House, 715 Hill. $5 donation. 995-3276.

Thursday
May, 2008

1-4 p.m.
Book Lovers' Club:Washtenaw County Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled. All invited to join a discussion of 2 books about journeys. The Road is Cormac McCarthy's haunting, bleak, Pulitzer Prize-winning postapocalyptic 2006 novel about a man journeying across a blasted landscape with his son, and A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler is Jason Roberts's vibrant biography of 19th-century naval officer James Holman. Refreshments. Washtenaw County Library conference room B, County Service Center, 4135 Washtenaw at Hogback. Free. 971-6059.

6:30-8:30 p.m.
"Understanding Alzheimer's": Ann Arbor District Library. Talks by Alzheimer's Association social worker Jennifer Wolfe Howard and Evangelical Homes of Michigan new programs and services director Susan Pettis. AADL multipurpose room (lower level), 343 S. Fifth Ave. at William. Free. 327-4560.

7 p.m.
Mike Farrell: Barnes & Noble. This actor-turned-activist, best known for his role as B. J. Honeycutt on M*A*S*H, reads from and discusses his memoir Just Call Me Mike: A Journey from Actor to Activist. Signing. Barnes & Noble, 3235 Washtenaw. Free. 973-1618.

7-8 p.m.
"Fats & Your Baby's Health": Whole Foods Market. Local chiropractor Shannon Roznay discusses the various fats necessary for proper brain, nervous system, and hormone development. Whole Foods Cooking & Lifestyles Classroom, 3135 Washtenaw. Free. 975-4500.

7 p.m.
"Improving Energy Naturally": Plum Market. Talk by local naturopath Rami El-Husseiny. Plum Market lounge, Maple Village. Free. 827-5000.

Friday
May, 2008

7-8:30 p.m.
"Help! I've Got to Lose Some Weight!": Whole Foods Market. Talk by local physician Malcolm Sickels and local nurse practitioner Gaia Kile. Whole Foods Cooking & Lifestyles Classroom, 3135 Washtenaw. Free. 975-4500.

7 p.m.
Ann Hood: Waters Place Borders. This Rhode Island novelist discusses Comfort: A Journey Through Grief, her memoir about the death of her 5-year-old daughter and how knitting helped her overcome her grief. Signing. Borders, 3140 Lohr Rd. Free. 997-8884.

7 p.m.
"110 in the Shade": EMU Theatre Department. May 30 & 31 and June 1 & 5-7. EMU drama professor Ken Stevens directs EMU drama students in N. Richard Nash, Tom Jones, and Harvey Schmidt's 1963 musical adaptation of Nash's The Rainmaker, a drama, set in Depression-era rural Texas, about a spinster who takes care of a household for her father and 2 brothers but longs for a life and love of her own. She secretly pines for the town sheriff until a charismatic rainmaker comes to town, and she finds herself torn between a life with her head in the clouds and one with her feet on the ground. For audiences age 12 & up. Sponberg Theater, Ford St. (off Lowell from Huron River Dr.), EMU campus, Ypsilanti. Tickets $15 (students, $12) in advance and at the door. 487-1221.

Saturday
May, 2008

4 p.m.
Robbie Timmons: Nicola's Books. This Detroit News anchor reads from Twoey and the Goat, her children's chapter book based on the true story of the racehorse who wouldn't race without his best friend, a goat named Kidd. Q&A and signing. Nicola's, Westgate shopping center. Free. 662-0600.

7 p.m.
"Ann Arbor Area Ghosts:" : Arborland Borders. Local writer Mimi Uptergrove discusses her collection of area residents' accounts of their eerie encounters. Borders, 3527 Washtenaw. Free. 677-6948.

7 p.m.
"110 in the Shade": EMU Theatre Department. May 30 & 31 and June 1 & 5-7. EMU drama professor Ken Stevens directs EMU drama students in N. Richard Nash, Tom Jones, and Harvey Schmidt's 1963 musical adaptation of Nash's The Rainmaker, a drama, set in Depression-era rural Texas, about a spinster who takes care of a household for her father and 2 brothers but longs for a life and love of her own. She secretly pines for the town sheriff until a charismatic rainmaker comes to town, and she finds herself torn between a life with her head in the clouds and one with her feet on the ground. For audiences age 12 & up. Sponberg Theater, Ford St. (off Lowell from Huron River Dr.), EMU campus, Ypsilanti. Tickets $15 (students, $12) in advance and at the door. 487-1221.

Sunday
June, 2008

1:30. 2:30. & 3:30 p.m.
"The Sky Tonight"/"Origins of Life": U-M Exhibit Museum Planetarium. Every Saturday & Sunday. The Sky Tonight (11:30 a.m. Saturdays and 1:30 & 3:30 p.m. both days) is an audiovisual exploration of the current night sky. Origins of Life (12:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. both days) is an audiovisual show about the prebiotic chemistry of the Universe after the Big Bang, the formation of the stars and solar systems, the first life on Earth, the great extinctions, and the search for extraterrestrial life. Followed by a brief star talk. U-M Exhibit Museum, 1109 Geddes at North University. $4.75. 764-0478.

"Amazing Animal Adaptations": Waterloo Natural History Association. Naturalist Jean McKim displays live birds, reptiles, and other animals and discusses the adaptations that enable them to survive in their habitats. 2-3 p.m., Eddy Discovery Center lower parking lot, Bush Rd. (west off Pierce Rd. from I-94 exit 157), Chelsea . $2 (families, $5). Preregistration required. Vehicle entrance fees: $6/day, $24/year ($6/year for seniors age 65 & over). 475-3170.

1-4 p.m.
Tour: Kempf House Museum. Every Sunday through June 15. Twenty-minute guided tours of this restored 19th-century Greek Revival home, named for the family of German American musicians who occupied it at the turn of the 19th century. Kempf House, 312 S. Division. Admission $1 (children under age 12, free). 994-4898.

1-5 p.m.
Guided Tours: Waterloo Area Farm Museum. Every Friday-Sunday, June 1-August 31. Museum docents give tours of the artifact-filled historic farmhouse, which contains everything from feather trees to a wooden wheelchair in the attic. Waterloo Area Farm Museum, 9998 Waterloo-Munith Rd. (left off Clear Lake Rd. 5 miles north from I-94 exit 153), Waterloo Recreation Area. $3 (seniors, $2.50; kids ages 5-17, $1). (517) 596-2254.

1-4 p.m.
Open House: U-M Detroit Observatory. June 1 & 14. Docent-guided tours, about 30 minutes long, of the photographs and artifacts in this restored 19th-century observatory museum. Also, a chance to pull the rope and rotate the telescope dome. U-M Detroit Observatory, 1398 E. Ann at Observatory. $5 suggested donation (U-M students, free). 763-2230.

1 p.m.
"BollyFit": Waters Place Borders. Demonstration of this Bollywood-influenced aerobic workout. Borders, 3150 Lohr Rd. Free. 997-8884.

1 & 3 p.m.
Sharon Mills Tours: Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission. June 1 & 8. WCPARC staff lead 30-minute tours around this park on the River Raisin that features a newly operational hydroelectric generator, a beautiful multicolored stone house, a wooden mill, and a former winery, plus spots for fishing, canoeing, and picnicking. Sharon Mills Park, 5701 Sharon Hollow Rd. (between Pleasant Lake & Sharon Valley rds.), Manchester. Free. 971-6337.

2 p.m.
Tour: Zingerman's Creamery. Every Sunday. Zingerman's cheesemaker John Loomis leads a tour of the facility where Zingerman's cheeses are made. Zingerman's Creamery, 3723 Plaza Dr. $5. 929-0500.

2 p.m.
Dinosaur Tours: U-M Exhibit Museum. Every Saturday & Sunday. 30-minute docent-led tour of the museum's dinosaur exhibits. U-M Exhibit Museum, 1109 Geddes at North University. Free, but limited to the first 15 people to sign up for each tour. 764-0478.

2 p.m.
Marilyn M. Prucka: WSG. This local textile artist and printmaker talks about Gatherings , her current exhibit of quilts inspired by fallen pine needles, on display through June 22. WSG, 306 S. Main St. Free. 761-2287.

3 p.m.
"Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA": U-M Ford Presidential Library. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Tim Weiner discusses his 2007 book. Ford Library, 1000 Beal, North Campus. Free. 205-0555.

3-4 p.m.
"Radio Free Bacon": Zingerman's Roadhouse. Every Sunday, May 18-June 29. Terry Farmer & the Roadhouse Revival Band, a local folk-flavored rock 'n' roll band, hosts a program of interviews, conversation, and comic sketches with various guest celebrities and performers. Broadcast live on WQKL 107.1 FM. Today's musical guest is Michael Waite, a singer-songwriter from Marquette. Zingerman's Roadhouse, 2501 Jackson. Free. 663-3400.

4 p.m.
Pottery Videos: Yourist Pottery. Screening of 2 New Mexican pottery videos, including Daughters of the Anasazi, a documentary about Acoma potter Lucy Lewis's use of ancient Native American pottery techniques, and Maria Martinez: Native American Pottery Maker of San Ildefonso. Yourist Pottery & Design Studio, 1160 Broadway. Free. 662-4914.

6-8 p.m.
Society of Women Engineers Book Club: Liberty Borders. All invited to join a discussion of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age , Kevin Boyle's novel set in the 1920s about an African American physician who moves to a previously all-white Detroit neighborhood. Borders cafe, 612 E. Liberty. Free. 668-7652.

7:45-9:15 p.m.
"The Copper Scroll and Hyrcania's Mysterious Tunnels": Beth Israel Congregation. Israeli archaeologist Oren Gutfeld discusses a scroll believed to contain the hiding place of the Jerusalem Temple treasure. Beth Israel Congregation, 2000 Washtenaw. Free. 665-9897.

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